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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438413">Part 4: She's Gone, But He's Still Here</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiannimated/pseuds/Rhiannimated'>Rhiannimated</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Best Friends Forever (And More) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Boy Meets World</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"The Grass is Always Greener", Dry Humping, Kissing, M/M, Pining, Post Season 3 Episode 12, Rebounding, Sexual Tension</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:14:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhiannimated/pseuds/Rhiannimated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cory and Topanga have broken up and Shawn tries to comfort Cory as best he can.  Cory finds a way to forget for a little while.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cory Matthews/Shawn Hunter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Best Friends Forever (And More) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1448029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Part 4: She's Gone, But He's Still Here</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Saturday night. Date Night. Cory and Topanga had been broken up for a week and Cory was fluctuating between being utterly depressed and being completely in denial of the whole thing. However, on this most sacred of Saturday Date Nights, Shawn was busy comforting his inconsolable best friend. They’ve been sitting in Cory’s room for at least an hour, rehashing everything about the breakup and how it’s not fair that she’s seeing other boys already.</p><p>“You could see other girls…or whatever,” Shawn suggests multiple different times, only to be given a withering look. “I’m just sayin’,” he holds up his hands.</p><p>“I just don’t know what to do, Shawnie. I can’t kiss other girls. It feels wrong!”</p><p>“You didn’t have a problem kissing someone else before you broke up,” Shawn pointed out, starting to lose sympathy.</p><p>“But that’s you, Shawn. You’re different.”</p><p>“Different how?” Shawn asks, trying to reel in the cranky feeling that came from not being able to have Cory the way he wished he could.</p><p>Cory tried to parse the difference, then shook his head. “I don’t know… You've always been there for me. And you always will be. You're one of the few people I know I can count on."</p><p>Inside, this made Shawn glow, but he showed nothing but annoyance on the outside. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why cheating on your girlfriend with me is somehow fine, but kissing another girl when you're not with anyone at the moment feels wrong?"</p><p>"I don't understand my own brain, Shawn, you should know this by now."</p><p>"Well, maybe you should figure it out. I could be on a date right now, you know."</p><p>Cory pouts, but doesn't say anything. He knows very well Shawn could be on a date with any number of very cute girls who are willing to kiss at Chubbie's for hours. Cory couldn't be that for Shawn, no matter if he was available or not. The two couldn't be public like that.</p><p>But, they were alone. "I'm sorry I'm ruining your date night," Cory says. "Maybe we could at least watch a movie? Would that make it up to you a little bit?"</p><p>Shawn sighs, knowing he'd stay here even if they did nothing at all the whole night. "Sure, buddy. What do you wanna watch?"</p><p>"Something horror with very little plot."</p><p>"Let's check the TV and see what's on."</p><p>They troop down to the living room and Shawn also realizes everyone is out of the house. “Oooh, no one’s home. R-rated movie, here we come!”</p><p>He clicks around the channels, trying to find something appropriately bloody while Cory pops some popcorn and grabs them a couple of sodas.</p><p>They settle in next to each other on the couch and Cory tries to let the gore and guts wash over him like it was any other guy’s night. Right now, he can barely see the screen, because they’re alone and no one is around to notice if they act like each other’s dates. He keeps darting glances to the side to take in Shawn’s extremely attractive profile. The way his hair falls into his face makes Cory want to tuck it behind his ear and kiss the skin it keeps hidden underneath. But, he has no idea how to make a move.</p><p>After the third scare in a row that Cory didn’t react to, Shawn turned to look at his friend. He puts a hand on Cory’s shoulder. “You doin’ alright, man?”</p><p>Cory jumps a little at the contact, but manages not to scream. “Yeah, of course, I’m fine. Why would you think I’m not fine?” he asks in an accusatory tone.</p><p>Shawn smirks. “You haven’t reacted to any of this movie. I know you’re depressed, but you usually at least react to a decapitation and nearly naked women.”</p><p>“Is that what just happened? I mean, of course that’s what happened, I was definitely paying attention.” Cory crosses his arms and stares even harder at the television.</p><p>Shawn turns in the couch to face Cory directly, bringing his left leg up under him. “Seriously, what are you thinking about so hard over there?”</p><p>Cory turns to mirror him and their knees brush against each other. He smiles at the contact.</p><p>“What are you smiling at?” Shawn asks, starting to worry about his friend’s mental state.</p><p>“You,” Cory says, his smile growing that much bigger. “Shawn, has it occurred to you that we are alone in this house? We probably have a solid hour or so until anyone gets home.”</p><p>“What are you saying?” Shawn asks, thinking he has a pretty good idea what he’s saying. Cory leans closer to Shawn, like he’s going in for a kiss, but Shawn stops him with a hand on his chest. “What are you doing?”</p><p>“You know what I’m doing. Why aren’t you letting me do it?”</p><p>“I’m just not sure it’s such a good idea, Cory,” Shawn says, leaning back and running his hands through his hair.</p><p>“Of course it’s a good idea! Why wouldn’t it be?” Cory gestures around at the empty room. “Did you miss the part where we’re all alone?”</p><p>Shawn stood up and paced behind the couch. “Look, Feeny believed the ‘naked for survival’ story, but when he saw the marks on my neck he gave me a funny look. I think he knows.”</p><p>Cory rolls his eyes. “How could you tell if it was a funny look? All of Feeny’s looks are funny.”</p><p>“He looked at Topanga with more pity than usual the next time he had us in class. What if,” Shawn paused, looking miserable. “What if Feeny told her and that’s why you broke up?”</p><p>“Shawn, we broke up because we both lied about what we were doing that night of the party and decided to pretend we were other people. It had nothing to do with you and me.” Cory was getting more frustrated by the minute. “Now get over here and smooch me, dagnabbit!”</p><p>“Seriously, Cory, if we got caught actually kissing it would be bad for you.”</p><p>“Why for me? And why not for you?” Why the hell was Shawn arguing with him instead of making out? He never thought it would take this much effort to get Shawn to make out.</p><p>“You've got your whole life ahead of you. Career, wife, kids, white picket fence.” Shawn scoffs. “No one thinks I’m going to amount to anything, so they won’t care much about me. It’s just another thing I’ll have fucked up.”</p><p>“First of all, don’t talk about my best friend that way. You’re not a fuck up. And second, I don't see how this has anything to do with us making out right now.”</p><p>Shawn glares at him, wishing Cory wouldn’t act so willfully ignorant when it suited his fancy. He doesn’t want to ruin Cory’s life and he also doesn’t want his parents to forbid them from hanging out. Mr. Matthews already makes enough gay jokes about Cory and about how much time they spend together.</p><p>This is not working, Cory thinks. A change in strategy was definitely needed. “What if we go up to the tree house? If we're quiet, no one will catch us.” Cory waggles his eyebrows, praying that this last ditch effort will work.</p><p>That stupid eyebrow waggle. Cory had no idea how cute he actually was. With the life Shawn’s had, he knew he had to grab whatever joy he could in the moment, because it could be the last moment of joy for a long time. This is why he went on as many dates as possible. This is also why he's not good at denying himself, especially when presented with a delectable Cory shaped package. He knew right away he was going to cave, even though this way only leads to heartache. "Fine," he finally says. “Let’s go to the tree house.”</p><p>“Yay!” Cory exclaims and waves his arms around. Then he grabs Shawn by the hand and drags him outside and up the ladder to their childhood hideout.</p><p>“Wow.” Shawn collapses next to Cory and looks around. “The walls seem a whole lot closer than they used to.”</p><p>“Enough small talk. Come here, Shawn,” Cory says, suddenly sounding serious.</p><p>At first Shawn can’t look at him, although the order goes straight to his cock. “Are you really sure we should do this?”</p><p>“I don’t see why we shouldn’t… we’re both single this time and after that night in the cabin, I think it’s fair to say we both enjoyed it. Why not seize the moment?” Cory nuzzles Shawn’s shoulder with his face, trying to get in a good position to kiss him.</p><p>Because when the moment’s over, it’s gonna hurt a lot, Shawn thinks, but doesn’t say out loud. Shawn knew this was a rebound move. He could feel it in his bones that even though Cory loved him as a best friend, that was all it would be. If he gave in now, it would set up a precedence for the future. Would Shawn be able to live with Cory coming to him every time things went bad with a girl? Would that be enough for Shawn?</p><p>Instead of sharing these terrifying thoughts, he finally looks at Cory and seizes his lips in his own.</p><p>“Mmmf!” Cory kisses back ferociously, putting all of his feelings for Shawn behind it. He ran his fingers through Shawn’s silky hair and pulled it lightly. True to his discovery back at Feeny’s cabin, Shawn rolled into Cory and pressed his hips against his. Surprisingly, the fact that they were wearing clothes this time didn’t deter from how amazing it felt.</p><p>Shawn deepened the kiss, letting go of his hesitations and throwing himself into it. He’s surprised by Cory’s eagerness. The thought that maybe Cory cared more about him in this way than Shawn thought possible made its way across his consciousness, but he ignored it. Now that he’s had a taste of this, he knows he’ll cave every single time Cory wants him. He makes a vow to do this as often as they could get away with, even though he knew that one day Cory and Topanga would find their way back to each other. It was as inevitable as time. But he’d take what he could.</p><p>Cory pulled back to catch his breath. “It’s ridiculously unfair how hot you are,” he says, panting for breath.</p><p>So many people in Shawn's life have called him attractive, but he's never experienced this amount of excitement over it. Knowing Cory finds him hot feeds something deep in his heart and he leans into Cory, kissing him roughly, trying to convey how much that means to him.</p><p>Cory groans and breaks away again. "And you are SO GOOD at kissing! How do you do this to me?"</p><p>Shawn looks down and sees how hard Cory is in his jeans. "You do the same to me," he gestures at his much baggier pants.</p><p>"Wow." Cory desperately wants to take Shawn in hand, give him the pleasure he deserves so much, but he's never gone farther than kissing and has no idea how to initiate. Shawn is looking at him with sheer longing, enough that it makes Cory shiver. Since he can't think of anything better to do, he leans in to kiss Shawn, a lot softer than their previous kisses.</p><p>It felt like a declaration of something much more than two best friends blowing off steam together. It felt light on Shawn's lips and heavy on his soul, made him want to run away and never let go at the same time.</p><p>"Cory," Shawn says, his voice hoarse with suppressed emotion.</p><p>"Yeah, Shawnie?" Cory holds his breath, wondering what his best friend will say. Is he about to call a halt to this? Is he about to declare his love? What!?</p><p>Instead of responding, Shawn surges into him for another blazing kiss. He wraps his arms around Cory, turns and pulls him on top of him. The movement brings them much closer together and Cory moans low in the back of his throat. "Shut up, Cor, Feeny could be gardening!" Shawn hisses.</p><p>"I can't help it, you feel so amazing." He sits up slightly and runs his hands over Shawn's chest, something he was definitely not allowed to do with Topanga. He slides his hand underneath Shawn's shirt and continues rubbing as he goes back to making out with him. When he tweaks an erect nipple, Shawn's hips snap up and HE'S the one to make a loud sound. "Shut up, Shawn," Cory says, mocking his voice. They both giggle together, feeling safe in their childhood hideaway, free from a world of judgment. Why did they have to bother with girls at all, anyway? he thought as he nibbled on Shawn’s lower lip. He enjoyed the little whimper this elicited from him, but he put his finger up to Shawn’s lips and said, “Shhh!”</p><p>Shawn took the opportunity to lick Cory’s finger and then suck it into his mouth.</p><p>Cory gasped so hard he almost choked and ground his hips into Shawn’s, who echoed his gasp. He reached up to hold Cory’s hips to his and slowly ground up against him.</p><p>They were grinding and kissing sloppily, both of them starting to think that maybe moving to third base wouldn’t be the worst idea, when they heard Cory’s family pull up in the driveway.</p><p>They pulled apart, breathing heavily and staring at each other, the desire between them palpable. Car doors swing open. Mrs. Matthews calls out, “Cory, can you help grab the groceries?” assuming he could hear through his bedroom window.</p><p>“Be down in a second,” Cory calls back. They try to straighten themselves out (no pun intended) so that they look presentable and take one last longing look at each other. Then they lock it all away, and go help Cory’s mom, hoping they can get another chance at this soon.</p>
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